6 Things to Do in Hoi An, Vietnam

We flew from Ho Chi Minh to Danang (nearest airport to Hoi An) for about an hour plus. Upon reaching Danang, we realized that the bus station was very far and it is a super hot day, so we decided to take a taxi to Hoi An.

The driver charged us almost double the regular price and on top of that when we reach the hotel staff told us that the Hotel shuttle was waiting for us in air port. Gosh! Imagine our regrets for not communicating to hotel properly.

But this was just the rough little moments of the 2nd leg of our anniversary trip. The rest was pure fun and bliss.

So this will be our second H in our Vietnam Trip. We aim to cover the 5 H’s for about 9 days. Hi there Hoi An!

Hoi An City is located in central coast of Vietnam . Central of Quang Nam Province. It is well known for its charming Ancient town and a rich cultural history. It is one of UNESCO World Heritage City. It was indeed a very beautiful City. The quiet streets and just the laid back way of life the people had in there captivates our heart.

It is one of the preserved traditional trading port in South-East Asia.

When we reach our pretty “Sunflower hotel” , we rested first for a couple of hour and decided to go to the beach.

We rented a bike for 1 USD a day, we cycled to the beach but turned out that we are heading the wrong direction. that wrong direction turned out to be the Old town of Hoi An, how exciting… Considered as UNESCO world heritage centre.

So here’s the things you can do in this charming City:

1. Visit Japanese Bridge

This probably the most popular or touristy place in Hoi An. This Japanese Bridge symbolises Hoi An. You can go in and walk from one end to another. Both side of the bridge will bring you to a lot of small artsy souvenir shops.

According to history, around 17th century the Japanese build this covered bridge over the stream to do business with the local people of Hoi An. Hoi An was once an important port wherein Chinese, Japanese and European boats come and do business with Vietnamese people.

Covered Bridgr or Japanese Bridge

2. Rent a bike and explore the Old town

We explored almost every street of it with laughter, giggles and jokes around as we race with our bikes. We are like children in this little town.

So according to history during 16th century, silk (probably from Chinese) became popular item in Hoi An that leads to production of silk lanterns that become popular interior decoration in town.

Me and my hubby prayed here exactly . There’s this certain tranquility that is so calming just being around this river.
4. Don’t miss out FOOOD!! Be adventurous .

We got hungry and tried to be adventurous with Food! We ate in this street overlooking the charming river.

It was one of the best dining experience that I have as im obsessed with outdoor dinings. Anything with open and wide concept.

Cao Lao

Cao Lao is one of the famous Hoi An specialty food. It’s thick round noodles with thinly-sliced pork, and cilantro and you need to season it with a special soy sauce and a lot of leaves and herbs..then sprinkle it with pieces of rice cakes.. YUMMY!

with this view in front of us during dawn.. with the silk lanterns all over the place… love it!!!!

After all the exploring, we unwind and tried their local beer at night and a pizza as our supper.

So we tried this highly recommended place by other tourist . It’s called Bo Bo Cafe, the food was beyond delicious ! awesome ambience and friendly staff❤️

5. Go to the beach!

On our Day 2, we woke up early and had our breakfast , grab our bikes and started cycling to the beach , now in right direction.. haha..

Hoi An BeachThe beach was great but nothing special (compare to lots of beaches in SEA) but its good because it was not crowded at all. They should name this beach PEACE beach because that’s all you will feel when you are here.
We just sit there, played in the sand, drink coconuts and prayed together after that. It’s possible to swim there if you are up to it.

So after singing some songs and praying, our bikes are were gone in just maybe 30 minutes. where is it? Louie started panicking.We asked around then the care taker of the beach said he dumped it somewhere far, just throw the bike away just like that because it bike was not allowed in the beach.. now we know.. thanks for the warning!

Tip: Do not leave your bikes in the beach unattended or lock it in a tree or something.

So after retrieving the missing bikes, we went back to hotel had our lunch and went back to Hoi An Center again…

no urchins please!!!!

the truth is even before I started blogging dating my husband, i have this habit of taking photo of my feet.

coconut anyone? So hot in here!

of course I need to try again my favorite viet coffee. Doesn’t fail to amaze me of its goodness.

traveling rings goes to Hoi An!!!

This red tropical fruit is called Rambutan. We bought this with the lady passing by carrying loads of fruits.. We felt compassion for her as shes walking in a very hot afternoon , very hardworking fellow and decided to buy.. It was nice and sweet..

one thing that I appreciate about vietnam was the way they serve food. To think that this was served in a small restaurant beside our street that cost us around 2-3 usd but you will be impressed on their presentation. Like you will feel special and its like they love what they are doing.. very inspiring ..

So at night we went to this cafe that lonely planet recommended, tried another famous food!!! WANTON. It was preety again as expected but its really awesome.. crunchy, salty, sweet.. arggg ill go back to this old town for those..

5. Visit different museums and temples

There’s a lot of Japanese Temples in Hoi An. When say a lot it’s like every 15 minutes of walking you’ll see a temple.

You can also enter some museums with minimal fee and some even are free of charge.

I’m Not a big fan of Museums (compared to my hubby) but the great thing about Hoi An is that they have small museums located in the ancient houses. So just one house and your done! Bite size museum! Win!

6. Admire the unique house architecture and take lots of photos.

I put this as last because these beautiful houses made Hoi An unique and attractive. The houses built between 15th to 19th century by Chinese and Japanese traders was well- preserved until today and this kept tourist and artist keep coming to the city.

They said Hoi An is considered a living Museum because of its well preserved ancient temples and houses .

As someone who loves vibrant colours, I can’t help but notice the beautiful yellow walls and houses. Yay! What a happy color!

I love Hoi An!!!

Most of the houses and walls in Hoi An are in shade of dark yellow.

They said the reason why yellow is something to do with weather. It’s usually hot and humid here and yellow absorbs lesser heat.

Hope I can go back again one day and I’ll make sure to bring a better camera!!

From Hoi An our next destination is Hue.We took Sleeper bus to the Hue.

Published by jackieuy

just an ordinary wife, mother, daughter, sister wanting to help to change the world through my gifts and also my vulnerabilities, my weaknesses, my imperfections and wanting to reach out make a difference by being more loving, compassionate and kind because that sums up all the law.
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